Britax Wingard Limited

B.s.g. International Limited

Britax Weathershields Limited

Britax Excelsior Limited

L.a. Rumbold Limited

Britax (dynasafe) Limited

Britax Limited

Douglas J Cunningham

Harry W Gilkes

Robert F Else

John Bottrill

David A Harries

Paul W Turner

Brian S Bennet

Ronald F Tilley

David A McKernon

George G Sanders

Keith J Bishop

In an adjustable seating system, allowing variation in the spacing between adjacent rows of passenger seats, e.g. in an aircraft, for use in a passenger vehicle, each row (14, 16, 18) is mounted on a longitudinal seat rail (30) secured to the floor. The seat rail (30) has a series of equally spaced openings (34) along its length for retaining the seating units (14, 16, 18) at any selected lengthwise location. Alternate rows (16) have seat adjustment means comprising a plunger (60, 144) for engaging in said rail (30) mounted for vertical movement between a rail-engaging position in which it engages with the rail (30) to restrain fore and aft movement and a release position in which it permits fore and aft movement of the seating unit (16), a foot (84, 156) for engaging in said rail (30) so as to resist both fore and aft movement and vertical movement, a lever (86, 158) pivotally mounted on the foot (84, 156) and having a cam follower (88, 160) engaging in vertically extending guide means (90, 162) secured to the seating unit (16), and coupling means (64, 132) responsive to displacement of the cam follower (88, 160) from the bottom of the guide means (90, 162) to move the plunger (60, 144) to its release position and adapted to return the plunger (60, 144) to its engaged position when the cam follower (88, 160) returns to the bottom of the guide means (90, 162).

Two position adjustable passenger arrangement having cam, plunger, and

Clamping member for a strap of the kind adapted to be located between a strap storage location and a strap utilization location, comprises a reaction member pivotally mounted on a base member for angular movement about a reaction member pivot axis, a guide member mounted for movement relative to the base member, and retention member for retaining the guide member and the reaction member in respective rest positions in which the strap is freely movable between the guide member and reaction member until the tension applied to the strap exceeds a predetermined level. Coupling member interconnects the reaction member and the guide member so that, when the tension in the belt exceeds the predetermined level, movement of the guide member causes corresponding movement of the reaction member, thereby wrapping the strap round both the reaction member and the guide member so that one layer of the strap is clamped against the reaction member by another layer of the strap. The reaction member is pivotally mounted on the base member by a first support link and the guide member is slidably mounted on guide member secured to the base member for movement in a direction having a component perpendicular to the reaction member pivot axis.

Clamping means for a strap

Clamping means for a strap, adapted to be located between a strap storage location and a strap utilization location, comprises reaction member pivotally mounted on a base member for angular movement about a first axis, a guide member pivotally mounted on a support member fast with the reaction member for angular movement about a second axis positioned between the reaction member and the first pivot axis. Resilient means retains the guide member and the reaction member in respective rest positions in which the strap is freely movable between the guide member and reaction member until the tension applied to the strap exceeds a predetermined level. When the tension in the strap exceeds said predetermined level, angular movement of the guide member causes corresponding angular movement of the reaction member, thereby wrapping the strap round both the reaction member and the guide member so that one layer of the strap is clamped against the reaction member by another layer of the strap.

An opening roof assembly for a motor vehicle comprises a rigid panel adapted to close an opening in a vehicle roof, respective guide tracks arranged to be secured to the vehicle roof on each side of the opening below the level of the vehicle roof, and respective support assembly for each side of the panel. Each support assembly comprises a first support member having thereon a cam surface of arcuate shape with its concave side upwards and its front end lower than its rear end, a second support member having a cam follower retained in engagement with the cam surface, one of the support members being slidably mounted on the corresponding guide track and the other support member being secured to the underside of the panel. Relative movement between the two support members thus causes the first support member to pivot relative to the second support member to raise the rear edge of the panel.

Opening roof for motor vehicles

Apparatus for reducing the amount of water spray produced by a wheel of a motor vehicle comprises a mudguard extending round an upper part of the wheel and a water collection chamber abutting the rear bottom edge of the mudguard and having an open front wider than the edge of the wheel, a rear wall having its outboard edge nearer to the front of the vehicle than its inboard edge and an outlet inboard of the inboard edge of the wheel.

Spray deflectors for vehicles

The seat portion of a vehicle seat comprises upper and lower rigid frames which are held spaced from each other by compression springs. The upper frame is rigidly mounted on supports. A fabric cover (not shown) encloses the two frames and is put under tension by the springs.

Seat comprising a fabric tensioned over spaced rigid members

An adjustable shoulder anchorage assembly comprises a vertically extending track mounted on the interior of a vehicle body above the level of the shoulders of an occupant of an adjacent seat and a traveller mounted on the track and carrying a guide member having a slot for receiving the strap of a safety belt. An L-shaped latch member has an opening in one limb surrounding the pivotal mounting means and engaging with a shoulder thereon, the other limb projecting beyond the track and carrying a latching formation. Resilient means biases the first limb away from the track so as to move the latching formation into engagement with one of a series of complementary formations on the track so as to inhibit movement of the traveller along the track. Blocking means prevents movement of the latching formation out of engagement with the complementary formations. Manual release means operates first to inhibit the blocking means and then to disengage the latching formation from the complementary formations.

Anchorage means for vehicle safety belts

Clamping means for a strap, comprises a guide member pivotally mounted on a base member for angular movement about a first axis, and a clamping member pivotally mounted on the base member for angular movement about a second axis parallel to the first axis and located at a greater radius from the second axis than the radius of the guide member from the first axis. Resilient means biases the guide member and the clamping member into a rest position in which the strap is freely movable between the guide member and clamping member. Coupling means are arranged so that angular movement of the guide member against the bias of the resilient means towards the plane containing the two pivot axes causes corresponding angular movement of the clamping member, thereby wrapping the strap round both the clamping member and the guide member.

A buckle for a safety belt has a body in which a passageway is provided for receiving a tongue and a latch member movable transversely of the passageway between a latching position in which it engages with the latching formation to retain the tongue in the passageway, and a release position in which the tongue is displaceable by an ejector outwardly from the passageway from its retained position, the latch member being biased into its released position by a spring. A first toggle member pivots about a fulcrum on the latch and abuts a second toggle member which pivots about a fulcrum on the body. The toggle members have a first stable position in which the latch member is held in its latching position against the action of its biasing spring.

Safety belt buckles

A safety device for enabling a child to use an adult vehicle safety belt of the type having a shoulder strap and a lap strap consists of a cushion (50) having a respective belt retainer (54, 56) on each side thereof, under which the lap strap of the adult safety belt engages. An auxiliary strap (14) is attached to the cushion so as to extend from the back thereof and has a belt guide connector (18) secured to its free end. In use, the belt guide connector slidably receives the shoulder strap of the adult belt so that the shoulder strap extends in front of, and the auxiliary strap extends behind the child's torso with the belt guide connector located above the child's shoulder.

Childs safety device for vehicles

In a motor vehicle having a front-hinged door 26 and an adjacent seat 10, a safety belt system, the safety belt comprises a lap strap 14, a shoulder strap 16 and a common strap 20 interconnected to form a three point safety belt. The free ends of the lap and shoulder straps 14 and 16 are connected to the rear edge of the door 26. The common strap 20 is connected to an inertia reel 28 mounted inboard of and adjacent to the bottom of the back of the seat 26. A puller strap 30 interconnects a point 18 on the safety belt with a point 32 on the vehicle so that, when the door 26 is opened the puller strap 30 applies a force to the shoulder strap 16, thereby displacing the junction 18 between the lap, shoulder and common straps 14, 16 and 20 out of the plane containing their anchorages 22 and 24 and the inertia reel 28.

Passive safety belt system

A three point safety belt system has its lap and diagonal elements 14 and 16 fastened to anchorage points 22 and 24 at the bottom and top rear corners of an adjacent vehicle door 26. The common element 20 is lead through a loop 37 in the end of an arm 30 which is pivotally mounted at 34. As the car door opens the resulting tension in the belt causes the arm 30 to pivot upwardly and forwardly, lifting the belt away from the body of the seat occupant.

Passive safety belt systems

A sliding roof assembly for a vehicle has a glass sliding panel 10 mounted in a pair of mutually parallel side members 20 each having an integral drain channel 26. An inwardly facing guide channel 24 is disposed on the outer wall of the drain channel 26 and engages with a respective edge of the panel 10. The side members 20 extend below the vehicle roof so that the panel 10 extends below the vehicle roof when in its open position. A second guide channel 54 is formed on the inner side wall of the drain channel 26 and has a sun blind 34 slidably mounted therein.

Vehicle sliding roof assembly

A child restraint, of the type comprising a pad adapted to fit between an adult lap safety belt and the abdomen of a child, can alternatively be used as an adult head restraint. When used as a child restraint, the pad is held in place by an adult lap safety belt. When used as an adult head restraint, the pad is secured to fixtures at the top of the seat back, the front surfaces of the device being suitably shaped. When used as a child restraint, webs of webbing extend from the top of the seat back to respective sides of the pad, so as to provide lateral restraint.

Restraint device

In a safety seat installation in a vehicle such as a bus or coach, where the seat is one of a longitudinal row of similar forward facing seats, the back is constructed in two portions 4 and 5 which are pivotally mounted at 3 and 6 respectively. In the event of sudden deceleration, for example in an accident, the rearwardly seated occupant's knees push the bottom of the lower seat back portion 4 forwards so that the top of this portion pushes the upper seat back portion 5 backwards into a position to restrain the rearwardly seated occupant's torso.

Growing community of inventors

Lutterworth, United Kingdom

Douglas J Cunningham