Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Yutaka Matsuzaki

Noritada Yoshitsugu

Motonobu Sugiura

Masakazu Hashimoto

Tsuneo Hida

Kenichi Ohnishi

Shinji Takemura

An apparatus for automatically opening and closing a closure panel associated with an opening formed in the roof of an automobile is disclosed. The apparatus drives the closure panel for tilt open and tilt closed operation and for slide open and slide closed operation. During the sliding movement of the panel, the apparatus detects a load on a panel drive mechanism in a zone where the loads are normally low, and deenergizes the panel drive mechanism in the event of occurrence of an overload. In a zone where the loads are normally high as the panel presses against a weather strip, no deenergization of the panel drive mechanism occurs during an interval allocated for overload detection. The apparatus energizes alarm means during the time the panel is driven in the closing direction in a selected mode in order to draw the attention of a vehicle driver. For assuring the safeguard of the panel, the panel is stopped temporarily during the slide closed operation at a point which leaves a given opening.

Apparatus for automatically opening and closing an opening covering

A seatbelt system includes a webbing which has one end thereof attached to a door of a vehicle and is automatically fastened to an occupant of the vehicle in response to the action of opening and closing the door. The webbing tension is decreased when the door is opened, whereby it is possible to reduce the resistance due to the webbing tension encountered when the door is opened. Further, when the door is closed, the webbing tension is increased, thereby bringing the webbing into close contact with the occupant.

Seatbelt system

A seatbelt system automatically fastens a webbing to an occupant of a vehicle after he has entered the vehicle and seated in a seat. The wind-up force of a webbing retractor for winding up the webbing is temporarily reduced by a control means in the course of the operation for fastening the webbing to the occupant. Thus, it is possible to eliminate the possibility that the webbing may rub against the body of the occupant during the operation for automatically fastening the webbing to the occupant.

In a seatbelt system in which an occupant restraining webbing, one end thereof being secured to a door of a vehicle, is moved in directions of a front and a rear of the vehicle in accordance with an opening and a closing of the door and an occupant is automatically fastened by the webbing, when a motor of a webbing retractor is driven in response to a signal from a switch detecting an opened degree of the door, so that a tension of the webbing is reduced.

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Toyota, Japan

Yutaka Matsuzaki