Nsk-warner K.k.

Nippon Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha

Masaru Morinaga

Takeo Ueda

Shinobu Mogi

Toshiaki Seto

Kazuhiko Sasaki

A webbing of a vehicle seat belt system is supported by a webbing supporting device. The device is constructed of a bolt, a base plate, a slip joint, a resilient member, and cooperating holding arrangement. The plate is supported pivotally at one end thereof on the bolt. The joint supports the webbing thereon and is provided on the other end of the plate. The resilient member is fit loosely and rotatably on the bolt and has a portion to be connected to a vehicle body in order to prevent the resilient member from turning about the longitudinal axis of the bolt. The resilient member has a predetermined degree of resiliency in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the bolt. The cooperating holding arrangement is provided respectively on the plate and resilient member so as to hold the plate on the resilient member at least at a home position of the base plate.

Webbing supporting device

A buckle is constructed of a base, latch piece, holding member and release member. The base has a bottom wall and side walls defining substantially L-shaped holes. The latch piece is supported on the base rockingly between a tongue latching position and a tongue non-latching position. The holding member is received at both end portions in the holes displaceably between a holding position, where the end portions are in the horizontal portions of the corresponding holes so as to hold at the latching position the latch piece which has been in the latching position, and a non-holding position where the end portions are in the vertical portions of the corresponding holes so as to permit movement of the latch piece from the latching position. The release member is provided displaceably between a non-operated position and an operated position and adapted to bring the holding member to the non-holding position and the latch piece to the non-latching position when the release member assumes the operated position.

Seat belt buckle

A buckle for a seat belt includes a latch piece pivotably supported by a buckle body and having a latch portion engageable with a tang when pivoted in a first direction, a release button pivotably supported by the buckle body and engageable with the latch piece during the pivotal movement thereof in the first direction to cause the latch piece to pivotally move in a second direction and release the engagement thereof with the tang, a first biasing member for biasing the latch piece in the first direction, and a second biasing member for biasing the release button in the second direction. The latch piece has its mid-portion as the center of pivotal movement, and the release button has one end thereof as the center of pivotable movement. The end of the latch piece opposite to the latch portion thereof is engageable with the vicinity of the center of rotation of the release button.

Buckle for seat belt

A retractor has a reel biased in a belt take-up direction and rotatably supported by a base member, and a belt take-up force locking mechanism capable of assuming a position in which it is interlocked with rotation of the reel and a position in which it is non-interlocked with rotation of the reel. The belt take-up force locking mechanism is adapted, when it assumes the interlocked position, to move from and towards its initial interlocked position in response to rotation of the reel and prevent take-up of the portion of the belt already drawn out. An emergency-locking mechanism provided for sensing at least a draw-out speed change of the belt above a predetermined value and connecting the reel to the base member to prevent rotation of the reel in a belt draw-out direction. The emergency-locking mechanism is adapted, when the belt take-up force locking mechanism is in its initial interlocked position to prevent undesired lock-up of the retractor but to operate properly in an emergency.

Emergency-locking type retractor provided with a take-up force locking

A retractor has a webbing take-up shaft rotatably supported by a base, biasing device for biasing the take-up shaft in a webbing take-up direction, a connecting member for connecting one part and another part of the biasing device, a locking member capable of assuming a locking position engaging the connecting member and a non-locking position disengaging from the connecting member, and a control device for controlling the locking member. When the locking member assumes the locking position, the biasing force of the other part of the biasing device is prevented from acting on the take-up shaft, and when the locking member assumes the non-locking position, the biasing forces of both parts of the biasing device are permitted to act on the take-up shaft.

Retractor

The specification describes a push-button type seat belt buckle whose tongue releasing push-button, when mounted on a vehicle, faces toward the passenger and is located in a somewhat sunken position, thereby to facilitate the release of the tongue while avoiding accidental release thereof due to unintentional contact of the passenger to the push-button. The tongue defines in a preferred embodiment a latch hole on its longitudinal central axis, with which latch hole a latch member engages for holding the tongue in a buckle body. Since the area of contact between the tongue and latch member is rather large, it is possible to use a rather thin tongue which contributes to the weight reduction of the buckle.

A buckle device has a tongue, a base, a latch member supported on the base and movable between an engaged position with the tongue and a non-engaged position with the tongue, a push button for releasing the engagement between the tongue and the latch member when manually operated, and a lever member pivotably supported on the base and having a spring portion integrally formed therewith. Biasing of the latch member in a tongue engaging direction by the spring portion and disengagement between the latch member and the tongue by the push button are accomplished through the lever member.

Buckle device

A seat belt retractor is provided with a take-up force reducing mechanism which has two spiral springs at least one of which acts for webbing take-up and in which the webbing take-up force can be reduced by controlling at least one of the two spiral springs. The retractor comprises a cam formed integrally with a take-up shaft and having a small-diametered circular cam portion, a large-diametered circular cam portion and a spiral cam portion interconnecting said circular cam portions, a follower member adapted to follow the cam portions of the cam and during webbing pay-out, to move from one of the small-diametered and the large-diametered cam portion to the other via the spiral cam portion and during webbing rewind, to move from said other cam portion to said one cam portion via the spiral cam portion, and spring force controlling means for reducing the take-up force when the follower member is following the spiral cam portion.

Retractor provided with a take-up force reducing mechanism

A seat belt retractor provided with an emergency locking mechanism comprises a seat belt retractor body having right and left side plates and a retractor shaft, first and second locking means, a support member having therein pawls adapted to be engaged with said first locking means and a retaining member which are integrally secured to one end of said retractor shaft, a plate mounted on said retaining member such that it is turnable together with said retaining member but is movable relative thereto and a pawl member which is rockingly mounted on said plate for restraint thereof. This seat belt retractor also includes a weight plate adapted to detect an abrupt acceleration of a webbing and designed such that it performs a delayed rotation, by the inertia thereof, with respect to said retaining member when the acceleration of the webbing caused by changes in the extracting speed thereof exceeds a predetermined value.

Seat belt retractor with emergency locking mechanism

A seat belt take-up device provided with an emergency-locking mechanism and having means for detecting a speed change of a vehicle above a predetermined value and in which webbing take-up means is locked upon detection of the speed change comprises a rotatable member provided concentrically with the take-up means and rotatable with the take-up means when in normal condition, stopping means for stopping the rotation of the rotatable member in response to the detecting means when there is a speed change of the vehicle above a predetermined value, a support member provided in axially juxtaposed relationship with the rotatable member and integrally with the take-up means, pawl means including at least one pawl member provided on the support member and capable of assuming a lock position and a non-lock position, the pawl member being normally in the non-lock position, an engaging member provided on the rotatable member for moving the pawl member to the lock position when the rotatable member is moved relative to the take-up means, and lock means engageable when the pawl member is moved to the lock position to stop rotation of the take-up means, the detecting means having an inertia member for sensing a webbing draw-out acceleration.

Seat belt take-up device provided with an emergency-locking mechanism

A buckle device for safety belts having a latch member pivotally mounted to a base member which serves as a load member and engageable with notches of a tongue member when the tongue is inserted into the base member so as to latch the base member and the tongue member together, resilient member for biasing the latch member in notches engaging direction, and a manually operable member for moving the latch member against the bias of the resilient member to unlatch the tongue member. Either of the latch member and the operable member has camming surfaces which engage engaging portions of the other of the above two members, whereby the sliding movement in the tongue insertion direction of the operable member is transformed to the substantially pivotal movement of the latch member.

Buckle device for safety belt

A safety belt retractor for a motor vehicle has an emergency locking mechanism which is of dual sensitive type and senses an emergency of the vehicle by sensing webbing extraction acceleration or speed and by sensing direct speed change or acceleration of the vehicle. When the sensing means senses the emergency of the vehicle the mechanism locks the extraction of the webbing to fasten the vehicle occupant.

Growing community of inventors

Yamato, Japan

Masaru Morinaga