Other

Takata Corporation

T K Holdings, Inc.

Mark Lynn Wilsey

Gerald A Doty

Richard M Grabowski

Erick Michael Anderson

Jeffrey T Versellie

An anti-rattle tongue plate assembly for a seat belt and the method of making the same are provided with a cover member of a hard material that is a distinct component and has soft material on the cover member to reduce noise. The cover member may be a cinch member slidably mounted on the tongue plate. The soft material may be mechanically joined and bonded to the hard material of the cinch member.

Anti-rattle tongue plate assembly

Controlled force shoulder belt system

A seat belt restraint system is provided including a retractor and an optical inertia sensor therefor. The optical inertia has a sensor body with a light emitter and detector recessed in bores therein. A frame support having inclined walls with a base opening at the bottom of the walls support an inertia ball so that it is positioned at the opening to reflect light from the emitter to the detector when vehicle accelerations are within a predetermined range. The inertia sensor is incorporated into circuitry which controls a locking mechanism, e.g. solenoid, at the retractor so that when the detector is sensing light, the retractor stays unlocked. During excessive vehicle acceleration, such as brought on during accident conditions, the ball will roll along the wall so it no longer reflects light from the emitter breaking optical communication between the emitter and detector and locking the retractor. The optical inertia sensor is advantageous in that it uses very few moving parts in contrast to mechanical remote sensors and avoids the reliability problems faced by switch contacts in prior inertia sensors. In addition, the sensor body including the emitter and detector is a commercially available portion of the sensor which utilizes well proven optical components for good reliability in sensor operation and lower costs in fabricating the present sensor.

Seat belt restraint system

Growing community of inventors

Howell, MI, United States of America

Mark Lynn Wilsey