The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 12, 2000
Filed:
Jan. 25, 2000
Richard A Mink, Ossian, IN (US);
Navistar International Transportation Corp, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
An anchor for a seat belt for a seat for a mobile vehicle such as medium or heavy-duty truck, the vehicle with the seat belt anchor installed, and the process of back fitting an existing vehicle with a seat with a seat belt. The seat belt anchor may be installed in a vehicle cab either during manufacture of the vehicle or in the after market. The anchor provides the surface area required for providing the strength required by Federal Law and fits around existing components of the cab. The anchor has at minimum three sides to roughly form a `U` shape to fit around a vertical gusset and mounting surfaces or flaps or engagement to the cab structure. The critical geometry is that the anchor will fit around a vertical gusset or cab support. In the primary embodiment, the anchor has 5 sides. The three center sides generally form a `U` shape when viewed at a downward angle from the rear of the cab. The `U` will fit around a rectangular cross-sectioned vertical gusset or cab support. The anchor may be installed in conjunction with the installation of a seat into the cab of a truck following completion of the cab structure. The back floors of truck cabs generally have a horizontal sill. The sill contains a hollowed out region. The anchor is installed to the cab by drilling an access hole and mounting bolt holes through the top surface of the cab sill. Then two tapping plates are pushed into the sill hollow region through the access hole. Each tapping plate is held against the upper inner surface of the sill. The anchor bracket is then bolted to the sill and hence the cab and the tapping plates with mounting bolts through the mounting bolt holes that engage to the tapping plates.