Britax Wingard Limited

Robert F Else

Douglas J Cunningham

David A Harries

Clamping means for a strap comprises a support member having a concave surface and a guide member having a convex surface. The guide member is pivotally mounted on the support member for angular movement between a first position in which the concave and convex surfaces are spaced apart by a distance greater than the uncompressed thickness of the strap and a second position in which the concave and convex surfaces are spaced apart by a distance less than the uncompressed thickness of the strap. The guide member further comprises a lobe so positioned in relation to the convex surface that the length of the path of the strap extending from a first predetermined location, round the lobe and between the concave and convex surfaces (24, 48), to a second predetermined location decreases as the guide member pivots from its first position to its second position.

Clamping means for a strap

An adjustable shoulder anchorage assembly comprises a vertically extending track mounted on the interior of a vehicle body above the level of the shoulders of an occupant of an adjacent seat and a traveller mounted on the track and carrying a guide member having a slot for receiving the strap of a safety belt. An L-shaped latch member has an opening in one limb surrounding the pivotal mounting means and engaging with a shoulder thereon, the other limb projecting beyond the track and carrying a latching formation. Resilient means biases the first limb away from the track so as to move the latching formation into engagement with one of a series of complementary formations on the track so as to inhibit movement of the traveller along the track. Blocking means prevents movement of the latching formation out of engagement with the complementary formations. Manual release means operates first to inhibit the blocking means and then to disengage the latching formation from the complementary formations.

Anchorage means for vehicle safety belts

An adjustable shoulder anchorage for a vehicle safety belt comprises a vertically extending track mounted on the interior of the vehicle body above the level of the shoulders of an occupant of an occupant of an adjacent seat and having a plurality of indexing formations facing away from said seat. A traveller is mounted on the track and carries a guide member having a slot for receiving the strap of the safety belt. A latch member is mounted on the traveller for movement between a first position in which a latching formation thereon engages with one of the indexing means on the track so as to inhibit movement of the traveller along the track and a second position in which the latching formation is disengaged therefrom. The traveller includes a base plate on the same side of the track as the indexing formations and having emergency latching formations for engagement therewith, together with deformable means for holding the base plate away from the indexing formations in normal use. If the shoulder anchorage is subject to excessive load, the deformable means distorts to allow the emergency latching formations on the base plate to engage with the indexing formations. A pivotally mounted manual release lever is movable between a first position in which a blocking formation thereon engages with a complementary formation on the latch member to inhibit movement of the latter from its first position, an intermediate position in which said blocking formation is disengaged from said complementary formation and an actuating formation engages with the latch member, and a third position in which said actuating formation has moved the latch member into its second position.

In a passive safety belt system for a motor vehicle, the belt is moved away from the body of the user when the corresponding vehicle door is opened. A master piston-and-cylinder unit is connected between the door and the vehicle body so as to respond to opening and closing movements of the door. Slave piston-and-cylinder units having a smaller bore and larger stroke than the master piston-and-cylinder unit, are connected to the master piston-and-cylinder unit so that a relatively short displacement of the piston of the latter causes a longer displacement of the piston of the former. Each slave piston-and-cylinder unit connected to the safety belt adjacent to a respective anchorage and arranged to displace the safety belt forwardly away from the seat as the door is opened.

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Lock Heath, Nr. Southampton, United Kingdom

Robert F Else