Indiana Mills & Manufacturing, Inc.

Other

Evenflo Company, Inc.

Guy R Dingman

Chris P Jessup

Michael A Wiseman

David D Merrick

James T Anthony

Aaron J Acton

Grant Bryant

James R Anthony

Jeffrey Alan King

Donald C Boyle

Christopher W Foye

Gregory L Woodard

Douglas Wayne Bittner

Steven Gale

Christopher Geist

Steven Tibor Berenyi

Michael W Ayette

Allan R Lortz

Jason A Boyer

Ronald F Homeier

Charles G Vits

James E Crook

Scott R Latuszek

John David Scelsi

Brian Nelson Coffman

Thomas Woellert

Jacob C White

Harold L Forth

William Cameron Forbes

Michael Carr Duncan

Marius Magdun

Thomas Mashino

John G Glover

Nick A Campbell

Steven T Berenyl

Rachael Blake

Yang Tao

Lisa A Rose

James C Esler

Mike Ayette

Kent Bahler

Tom Woellert

A buckle has a buckle mechanism with a lock pawl and a latch pin. The latch pin is designed to travel only in a longitudinal or horizontal direction relative to the buckle mechanism. When a latch plate assembly is secured, the latch pin holds the lock pawl in a latched position and prevents accidental release of the latch plate assembly. A release button is coupled to the latch plate retention bar so that all of the effective actuation and other motions are in the longitudinal direction of the buckle mechanism. The buckle mechanism has an ejector mechanism with an ejection spring for ejecting the latch plate assembly.

Seat belt apparatus and buckle

A switchable retractor system includes a retractor with a spool. The spool is rotatable in an extension direction for extending a web and in a retraction direction for retracting the web. A first clutch has an engaged state where the first clutch inhibits rotation of the spool in the extension direction and a disengaged state where the first clutch allows rotation of the spool in the extension direction. A release actuator actuates the first clutch into the disengaged state when actuated by a user to allow extension of the web. A second clutch has a locked state where the second clutch inhibits rotation of the spool in the retraction direction and an unlocked state where the second clutch allows rotation of the spool in the retraction direction. A tension actuator actuates the second clutch into the unlocked state when actuated to allow retraction of the web into the retractor.

Switchable retractor

An apparatus for dynamically stiffening a vehicle seat back may include a vehicle seat including a seat bottom mountable within a vehicle, a seat back extending upwardly away from the seat bottom, and a bight defined at a forward-facing interface between the seat bottom and the seat back, an occupant restraint harness coupled to the vehicle seat and engaging a top end of the seat back, and a seat back stiffening apparatus having a seat back stiffening member and an actuator coupled to the occupant restraint harness adjacent to or near the bight of the vehicle seat. The actuator may be responsive to a first force applied thereto by the occupant restraint harness in excess of a first threshold force to deploy the seat back stiffening member to couple to and between the seat bottom and the seat back to add stiffness to the seat back frame.

Occupant restraint actuated apparatus for dynamically stiffening a motor vehicle seat back

A passenger seat is described for use with a vehicle seat and includes, a base, an attachment assembly, a restraint assembly, and a non-rigid back. The base includes a central front opening. The attachment assembly includes a plurality of straps, which are configured to adjustably secure the base to the vehicle seat. The restraint assembly includes a shoulder strap assembly, a crotch strap assembly, and an adjustment strap. The adjustment strap is in communication with the shoulder strap assembly, extending from the shoulder strap assembly through the base and out of the central front opening of the base. The adjustment strap assembly is configured to adjust the shoulder strap assembly in response to translation of the adjustment strap through the central front opening of the base. The back encompasses at least a portion of the restraint assembly and the attachment assembly.

Central-adjust soft-back vehicle seat

A gate assembly for a motor vehicle having an open doorway includes an elongated gate having a pivoting end mounted to a first frame component at one side of the doorway and a latching end opposite the pivoting end, a latch striker pin mounted to a second frame component at the opposite side of the doorway, a latch cam at the latching end of the gate and having a latched position and an unlatched position, and an actuator having an engaged position in which the latch cam is in its unlatched position and a disengaged position in which the latch cam is in its latched position. The gate is pivotable from a stowed position adjacent to the one side of the doorway to a deployed position across the doorway in which the latch cam in its latched position engages the striker pin to secure the gate in its deployed position.

Gate assembly for a motor vehicle with latching in stowed and deployed positions

A locking retractor includes a frame, a spool shaft rotatably mounted thereto, an outer surface of a base of a housing mounted to the frame with one end of the spool shaft extending into an opening defined through the base, one or more locking components arranged on an inner surface of the housing and configured to cooperate with the spool shaft to selectively block rotation of the spool relative to the frame, a sealing member configured to extend about and engage a periphery of the first opening and to extend about and engage a periphery of the spool shaft to form a seal between the base of the housing and the spool shaft to block ingress of moisture and particles, and a cover hermetically attached to the housing with the locking components sealed between the cover and the base of the housing.

Sealed locking retractor

A device is disclosed for pre-tensioning an occupant restraint harness coupled to a seat portion of a motor vehicle seat and/or for pulling down the seat portion of the vehicle seat toward a seat base in embodiments in which the seat portion is suspended above the seat base. An elongated housing is secured to the seat portion, a web is coupled between the restraint harness or seat portion and the seat base or a support structure to which the seat base is mounted, and a piston carried by the housing defines a web guide in contact with the web between its two ends. As the piston moves along and relative to the housing in response to actuation thereof, the web guide displaces the web within the housing to pre-tension the occupant restraint harness and/or to pull the seat portion toward the seat base.

Restraint web pre-tensioning and suspension seat pull-down device

A web position and attenuation apparatus includes an elastically deformable body having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, one of the first and second ends configured to be affixed to a frame of a movable vehicle, a web coupling member received on the elastically deformable body, the web coupling member movable relative to, and positionable along, the elastically deformable body, the web coupling member defining a web slot, and a flexible web extending through the web slot, the flexible web part of a restraint system to restrain an occupant of a vehicle seat mounted within the vehicle. The elastically deformable body is responsive to dynamic loads applied by the occupant through the flexible web to the web coupling member to absorb energy and attenuate tension in the flexible web via elastic deformation of the elastically deformable body.

Web position adjustment and attenuation apparatus

An apparatus for ratcheting multiple restraint webs includes first and second locking web retractors each coupled to one end of a different restraint web. When locked, the web retractors each prevent web movement in a web pay-out direction relative thereto. The apparatus further includes first and second ratcheting devices each coupled to a corresponding one of the web retractors, and each is movable in a direction that moves the corresponding web in a web take-up direction relative to its web retractor when the web retractors are locked. The apparatus further includes an actuator movable between two positions and coupled to each of the ratcheting devices. The ratcheting devices are each responsive to a moving force applied thereto by the actuator as the actuator moves between its two positions to move in the direction that moves its corresponding web in the web take-up direction.

Apparatus for ratcheting multiple restraint webs via a single actuator

A web position and attenuation apparatus includes an elongated body extending in a longitudinal direction between opposite ends thereof, a bracket mounted to one of the opposite ends of the elongated body and configured to be affixed to a frame of a movable vehicle, a web coupling member slidably received on the elongated body and positionable along the elongated body. The web coupling member defines a first web slot, and a flexible web extends through the first web slot. The elongated body attenuates forces applied by the flexible web to the web coupling member in non-parallel directions relative to the longitudinal direction by elastically deforming in the non-parallel directions.

An apparatus and method are provided for sealing locking components of a retractor, wherein the retractor has a spool shaft extending therefrom. A base of a housing defines an opening therethrough, and an outer surface of the base is mounted to the retractor with the spool shaft extending into the opening. The locking components are arranged on an inner surface of the base of the housing. A sealing member engages the base of the housing and extends about a periphery of about the opening, and also extends about and engages a periphery of the spool shaft, to form a seal between the spool shaft and the base of the housing to block ingress of moisture and particles to the locking components. A cover is hermetically attached to the housing about a periphery thereof with the locking components sealed between the cover and the base of the housing.

A method is provided for sealing locking components of a retractor, wherein the locking components cooperate with a spool shaft extending from, and rotatable with, a rotatable spool of the retractor to selectively lock rotation of the spool. The method includes mounting a base of an open-ended housing to the retractor with the spool shaft accessible via an opening in the base when so mounted, positioning a sealing member to extend about and engage a periphery of the opening and to also extend about and engage a periphery of the spool shaft, operatively arranging the locking components within the interior of the housing, and hermetically sealing a cover to the open end of the housing after the housing is mounted to the retractor. The sealing member engages the peripheries of the first opening and the spool shaft and blocks ingress of moisture and particles to the locking components.

Hermetically sealed locking retractor

An apparatus and method are provided for hermetically sealing locking components of a retractor wherein the retractor has a spool shaft extending therefrom. An open-ended housing has a base and defines an opening through the base into an interior of the housing. The base of the housing is mounted to the retractor with the spool shaft accessible via the opening. The locking components are arranged within the housing. A sealing member is positioned about the opening to form a hermetic seal between the spool shaft and the opening. A cover is hermetically attached to the open end of the housing.

A configurable restraint system (-) for a vehicle seat (') may comprise a first restraint harness (-&#x2033;) coupled to a first engagement member (), a second restraint harness (-&#x2033;) coupled to a second engagement member (), and a third engagement member (-&#x2033;&#x2033;) configured to be movable between first and second positions relative to the vehicle seat. The first position may be located relative to the vehicle seat so that the first engagement member () may releasably engage the third engagement member (-&#x2033;&#x2033;) to restrain a first occupant of the vehicle seat via the first restraint harness (-&#x2033;). The second position may be located relative to the vehicle seat so that the second engagement member () may alternatively releasably engage the third engagement member (-&#x2033;&#x2033;) to alternatively restrain the first occupant of the vehicle seat via the second restraint harness (-&#x2033;).

Configurable restraint system for a vehicle seat

Growing community of inventors

Westfield, IN, United States of America

Guy R Dingman