Nissan Motor Company Limited

Fuji Kiko Co., Ltd.

Fujikiko Kabushiki Kaisha

Hideoki Matsuoka

Hiroyuki Nomura

Kiyoshi Yamaki

Takashi Oka

Masanori Mizote

Takaaki Mogi

Yoshinobu Kondo

Hiroshi Tsuda

Yoshimi Yamamoto

Teruo Kawasaki

Hiroyuki Miki

Akitoshi Mimura

Kazuo Ikawa

Hiroo Okuyama

Syuichi Otani

Takashi Nakamori

Hideho Inasawa

Masayoshi Katoh

Kiyomi Matsushita

Zensho Matsumoto

Yoshinobu Kondoh

A pinion and upper and lower internal gears are adapted to be subassembled to a hub portion of a steering wheel prior to mounting on a steering shaft. An anchor leg is provided to the lower end of the lower internal gear and has a pair of opposed lateral sides which are opposed in the lateral direction perpendicular to the diametrical direction of the lower internal gear. A location arm is provided to the upper end of a stationary column and has a bifurcated upper end to loosely receive therewithin the anchor leg. The bifurcated end of the location arm is resiliently deformed by a screw driven thereinto to contact the lateral opposed sides of the anchor leg.

Steering system equipped with steering wheel center pad anti-rotation

In a passive restraint seat belt structure wherein a seat belt end is fixed to a slider which is movable along a mounting rail, and which is to be fixed to the rear end of the rail when the door of the vehicle is closed, a locking device for fixing the slider is disclosed. The slider is driven by a driver member which is loosely connected to the slider with a certain amount of free play therebetween. When the slider is driven backwards, the driver member is in a first position relative to the slider which allows engagement between an engagement assembly on the slider and an engagement assembly fixed on the body of the vehicle. When the slider is to be moved forward, driver member is first moved forward, and it assumes a second position relative to the slider, wherein a catch-releasing portion on the driver member breaks the engagement of the two engagement assemblies, thus releasing the slider member from its locked engagement in its rearmost position on the rail, and allowing the slider member to be driven forward.

Locking structure for a seat belt slider in a mounting rail

A vehicle seat belt retractor having an emergency locking mechanism of two seat belts is disclosed. There is provided a seat belt retractor with an emergency locking mechanism which comprises: a common U-shaped housing; a pair of seat belt retracting shafts, each having one end journalled on one plate of the common U-shaped housing and the other end connected with a return spring for biasing the retracting shaft to retract the corresponding seat belt; a pair of ratchet wheels each fixed to one end of the corresponding seat belt retracting shaft; an inertia sensor, mounted within said common U-shaped housing, for operatively detecting and signalling by displacement when the vehicle's inertia force exceeds a predetermined value; a lock pawl mechanism mounted within said common U-shaped housing and biased away from engagement with the ratchet wheels by means of a fixing means located at one plate of the common U-shaped housing; and an actuating lever rotatably fixed on the common U-shaped housing for actuating the lock pawl mechanism to simultaneously engage with both ratchet wheels when the inertia sensor detects and signals the vehicle's inertia force exceeding the predetermined value.

Seat belt retractor with emergency locking mechanism for automotive

A passive seat belt system includes a mechanical linkage between the seat back and a guide member which holds the belt in an appropriate operating position. The linkage serves to move the guide member forward as the seat back is tilted forward, to move the guide member to its normal working position when the seat back is moved to its normal upright position, and to hold the guide member in its working position as the seat back is tilted backwards. The mechanical linkage includes a linkage lever, of which one end is pivotably attached to the seat back and the another end constitutes a contoured lost-motion linkage engaging the pivotable guide member. The lost-motion linkage is designed to actuate movement of the guide member when the seat back moves within the forward moiety of its reclining range, and to be only slackly engaged with the guide member when the seat back is moved in the portion of its reclining range rearward of its normal upright position. A stop holds the guide member in its working position in the latter case.

Passive seat belt system for an automotive vehicle with tilting seats

A rotary wheel with a peripheral recess rotates with the adjusting movement of a motor-driven, adjustably movable seat. A manual lever is operable to freely rotate the wheel relative to the seat to an angular rest position, where a contact element of a memory switch engages in the recess of the wheel. When the seat moves back to the initial position after an adjusting movement, the contact element snaps into the recess to open the switch stopping the motor so that the seat automatically resumes the initial position.

Position memory for automatically adjustable seat assemblies

A safety seat belt arrangement for protecting an automotive seat occupant. According to the present invention, there is provided a safety seat belt arrangement which comprises, in addition to a first belt having a shoulder harness portion the end of which linked with a rear upper end of a door and a lap harness portion the end of which linked with a rear lower end of the door and a second belt one end held by a safety seat belt retractor and the other end linked with the first belt through a linkage ring, a projecting member located at an outboard side of the seat projecting by means of an elastic means, so as to be pushed by the door when the door is closed, an arm assembly located at the inboard side of the seat and rotatably fixed on a seat frame bracket for supporting the second belt, and a linkage member located at the rear of the seat for connecting the projecting member and the arm assembly so that the arm assembly stands upright to release the first belt from the body of the occupant when the door is closed and the projecting member is pushed, whereby the force required to open the door can be remarkably reduced.

Safety seat belt arrangement for automotive seat occupant

A seat belt device used for a two-door automotive vehicle in which the seat back of the front seat is tilted forward whenever the passenger taking the rear seat gets out of the passenger compartment. In the seat belt device according to the present invention, since the seat belt is moved frontward along the side surface of the seat cushion by the use of a link mechanism, when the seat back is tilted forward, it is possible to open or close the vehicle side door smoothly without pinching the seat belt between the seat cushion and the seat back.

Seat belt device for an automotive vehicle

A door for an automobile disclosed herein comprises a glass run rubber embraced in a door frame for guiding a window glass, the glass run rubber formed with a channel for receiving a wire harness extending from a buckle for releasing a seat belt in an emergency to a belt wearing alarm device for warning with a signal a driver of a disconnection of the seat belt to the buckle, thereby eliminating a notch formed in the door frame which would reduce the rigidity of the door, preventing the wire harness from being cut by an edge of a notch formed in the door frame and eliminating extra parts for retaining the wire harness in the channel.

Door for automobile

A seat belt retractor including guide means for maintaining the two seat belts smooth and twist-free. The guide means has two guiding portions extending upwardly and angled towards each other like the sides of an isosceles triangle. The guiding portions optionally have pivot means at their central portions permitting automatic repositioning to accommodate passenger movements. The retractor causes the belts to retract smoothly and without jamming or twisting.

Seat belt retractor

A belt supporting member mounted on an inner side of a hinged door of a vehicle is constructed of a resilient wire and comprises a base portion fixed to the inner side of the door, a fulcrum portion extending from the base portion, a hair-pin portion extending downwardly from the fulcrum portion, a straight portion extending upwardly from the hair-pin portion while making an obtuse angle relative to the hair-pin portion, and a belt supporting portion extending from the straight portion for supporting thereon a portion of the belt. The connection of the belt supporting member to the door is such that when no external force is applied to the belt supporting member, the hair-pin portion is raised by a certain angle from the inner side of the door permitting the straight portion to lie on the inner side of the door by making the fulcrum portion act as a fulcrum. A blocking member is mounted to the vehicle body at a portion to which the top of the hair-pin portion is engageable upon closing of the door.

Passive seat belt arrangement for a vehicle

A covering structure of a guide rail fixed to an inner wall of a vehicle body, within which is slidably guided a slide member connected to a seat belt which comprises: a decorative cover covering the guide rail and slide member and flexible yarn-like bodies in the form of a brush at lower edges of the decorative cover, thereby preventing dust from entering an opening of the guide rail and a hand or a finger of a child from being jammed by the slide member and guide rail and obtaining a more aesthetical appearance of the guide rail.

Covering structure of a guide rail for a seat belt

A knee protector for use in a passenger car equipped with an instrument panel and a steering column installed near the instrument panel, comprises a first and second panels which are separate to each other. The steering column is positioned between the first and second panels. The first and second panels are attached under the instrument panel. A pad covering the first and second panels. The pad has a convex portion to be inserted into a space between the first and second panels.

Knee protector

An emergency lock type retractor for a passive safety belt assembly of a vehicle includes a housing (1) mounted on the vehicle body, a reel (3) for the belt (4) rotatably supported by the housing and a ratchet wheel (7) secured to the reel. An inertia device (16) detects an emergent deceleration of the vehicle and causes a pawl (9) to engage with the ratchet wheel to lock the reel and prevent unwinding of the belt. The inertia device includes a first inertia member (19) perpendicularly suspended by the housing to assume a constant angle with respect to the vehicle body. The first inertia member supports a more sensitive second inertia member (22) which displaces relatively to the first inertia member as the vehicle is emergently decelerated. When the mounting angle of the housing varies with respect to the vehicle body, the first inertia member swings to stably maintain the second inertia member at a constant angular position with respect to the vehicle body.

Emergency lock type retractor

A section of a shock absorbing member, which is located in the vicinity of a hard projection, has higher stiffness than another section of the same which is located in the distance from the hard projection, so that when the occupant's knee portion is forced to move toward the hard projection and collides with the shock absorbing member upon vehicle collision, the knee portion under movement is forced to turn in a lateral direction, that is toward the low stiffness or safety section of the member, losing its kinetic energy.

Occupant's knee protecting device

An emergency escape device for seat belts comprising a buckle including a latch mechanism, a tongue operative to be engaged with and disengaged from the buckle, a fixed operative member fitted to a retractor, and a release means movably fitted to the retractor and operative to disengage the tongue from the buckle.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Hideoki Matsuoka