Takata Corporation

Hideaki Yano

Koji Tanaka

Hiromasa Tanji

Hiroaki Fujii

Ryuji Yano

Muneo Nishizawa

Tetsuya Hamaue

Yoshiichi Fujimura

Shizutaka Matsuura

Hitoshi Fujita

Misao Kamiyama

Tetsuo Tsuji

Hideo Kitamura

Keisuke Narimatsu

A motorized seat belt retractor having a load limiter to control the tensile load on a seat belt webbing, especially when the webbing is withdrawn due to an emergency condition. The load limiter controls the tension by controlling the condition of the motor that drives the retractor.

Motorized seat belt retractor

A method of protecting a passenger in a vehicle from a series of collisions. The method includes detecting that the vehicle is in danger of being involved in a first collision; winding up a webbing of a seat belt to restrain the passenger; permitting the passenger to move forward and the webbing to withdraw; winding up the webbing to restrain and return the passenger to a normal seated position; maintaining the passenger in a restrained condition; determining that the vehicle is in danger of being involved in a second collision; permitting the passenger to move forward and the webbing to withdraw; winding up the webbing to restrain the passenger and return the passenger to a normal seated position; maintaining the passenger in a restrained position; and releasing the restraint on the passenger.

A motorized seat belt retractor configured to be activated in response to a signal generated by a dangerous state detection device indicating that a vehicle is in a dangerous state. The retractor is configured so that in response to the signal the retractor operates to retract a seat belt webbing prior to a collision thereby restraining an occupant positioned in a seat in the vehicle. The retractor is activated every time a signal indicating that the vehicle is in a dangerous state is received from the detector.

A seat belt retractor having a function of taking up a seat belt using a motor. A spool is fitted in a base frame such that a torsion bar functions as a shaft of the spool. Two gear-clutch casings are disposed on the left and right sides of the spool via a pretensioner and a locking mechanism, respectively, wherein two motors are disposed to the gear-clutch casings, respectively. The two motors achieve respective functions which are different from each other and rotate at respective constant speeds.

Seat belt retractor

A seat belt retractor including an energy absorbing mechanism which can reliably satisfy a requirement to absorb the energy flexibly is provided. When a first pulley is rotated clockwise by an extraction of a webbing in an emergency, a wire, which is connected to the first pulley at one end, is pulled. Thus, a second pulley, to which the other end of the wire is connected, is rotated clockwise around a second rotational shaft. The second rotational shaft is disposed at a position away from the center of the second pulley. Thus, the rotational diameter gradually increases and a torque applied by the wire for rotating the second pulley is gradually reduced. Since the second rotational shaft is connected to a torsion bar, a load applied to the torsion bar is reduced after reaching a limit load.

A seat belt tension adjuster adjusts tension on a seat belt wound on a reel by a biasing spring. The tension adjuster includes a biasing force adjusting mechanism situated between the reel and the spring for adjusting a biasing force transmitted from the spring to the reel depending on a rotational angular position of the reel. The biasing force adjusting mechanism includes a cam for gradually changing the biasing force based on the rotational angular position of the reel. The tension adjuster can freely set the withdrawing force and the winding force of the seat belt.

Seat belt tension adjuster

In a seat belt control device of the invention, when a buckle switch detects disengagement of a buckle and a tongue plate of a seat belt, the seat belt is retracted through a motor. In addition, the seat belt is re-retracted, through a motor, when a passenger detector detects that no passenger is present in an automobile, when a door switch detects that a door opens, or when an engine key switch detects that an engine key is pulled out or is in an off state. Thus, the seat belt can be positively retracted. Therefore, when a passenger gets off or is going to get off, the seat belt can be securely retracted to thereby prevent the seat belt from being caught by a projection in a compartment or by the door of the automobile.

Seat belt control device

A seat belt retractor 80 is attached to a seat back 14 and a cable advancing and retreating mechanism 20 is attached to a portion where a supporting arm 12 and a shaft 18 for inclining the seat back 14 are connected to each other. The supporting arm 12 projects from a seat cushion 10 for supporting the seat back 14. Corresponding to the inclination of the seat back 14, a cable 70 laid between the cable advancing and retreating mechanism 20 and the seat belt retractor 80 is advanced or retreated from/into the cable advancing and retreating mechanism 20. The attitude of the acceleration sensor 92 attached to the seat belt retractor 80 is controlled by advancing or retreating the cable 70 so that the acceleration sensor 92 always stands perpendicularly.

Seat belt device

To allow a weight type acceleration sensor to be employed as an acceleration sensor of a seat belt retractor which is incorporated in a seat back. A seat belt retractor 80 is attached to a seat back 14 and a cable winder 20 is attached to a portion where a supporting arm 12 and a shaft 18 for inclining the seat back 14 are connected to each other. The supporting arm 12 projects from a seat cushion 10 for supporting the seat back 14. Corresponding to the inclination of the seat back 14, the cable winder 20 rotates so that a cable 70 laid between the cable winder 20 and the seat belt retractor 80 is unwound or wound from/onto the winder 20. The attitude of the acceleration sensor 92 attached to the seat belt retractor 80 is controlled by the unwinding or winding of the cable 70 so that the acceleration sensor 92 always stands perpendicularly.

A seat belt retractor incorporated in a seat back that does not create noise, even with the vibration of a vehicle. A reel is supported by a frame, and reel rotation is prevented by a locking mechanism. In the locking mechanism, rotation of a gear wheel is prevented by an acceleration sensor, and a trigger is pivoted through a clutch wheel to engage a tooth portion with teeth on a lock ring, thereby stopping rotation of an intermediate wheel. Ratchets are supported by a ratchet wheel associated with the intermediate wheel. Since the ratchet wheel rotates even after stopping rotation of the intermediate wheel, the ratchets move outward whereby a stopper is pressed down. This cancels the engagement between a rack on a sensor holding portion and a rack of the stopper.

In a seat belt retractor according to the present invention, a lock gear first cover 13 has a projection 13a formed in a relatively large ring shape. The projection 13a has teeth 13c formed all around the inner surface thereof at same intervals. These teeth 13c are formed to have the same positional relation with the teeth 2 f formed on the right-hand side wall 2a. Further the number of the teeth 13c is set to be a common divisor of the number of the teeth 2f, that is to be less than the number of the teeth 2f. Thereby, the frequency of occurrence of end lock decreases.

A shoulder belt position adjusting device for a seat belt assembly comprises a belt anchor through which a shoulder belt is loosely inserted, an anchor support block supporting the belt anchor, a guide rail for slidably holding the anchor support block, a screw shaft extending along the length of the guide rail and threadably engaged with the anchor support block, a drive cable including an outer cable, and an inner cable inserted into the outer cable and having a front end connected to the screw shaft, and a drive unit connected to the rear end of the inner cable. The screw shaft is rotated to move the anchor support block along the guide rail. A plurality of ribs extend from the outer peripheral surface of the inner cable and are spaced apart from one another along the length of the inner cable.

Shoulder belt position adjusting device for a seat belt assembly

A shoulder belt positional adjustment device for a seatbelt comprises a belt anchor adapted to loosely receive a shoulder belt, an anchor support block for supporting the belt anchor, a guide rail for slidably holding the anchor support block, and a screw shaft extending along the longitudinal axis of the guide rail and threaded with the anchor support block, whereby the screw shaft is rotated to move the anchor support block along the guide rail. The anchor support block has a nut element threaded on the screw shaft, and a slider slidably mounted to the guide rail. The nut element and the slider are so engaged as to move together. A resilient member is disposed among the nut element, the slider and the guide rail to resiliently contact the nut element, the slider and the guide rail.

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Tokyo, Japan

Hideaki Yano