AU610853B2

AU610853B2 - Automotive seat with seat belt

Info

Publication number: AU610853B2
Application number: AU11313/88A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Genjiro Takagi
Original assignee: Tachi S Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tachi S Co Ltd
Priority date: 1988-02-04
Filing date: 1988-02-04
Publication date: 1991-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 2008-02-04
Also published as: AU1131388A

Description

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AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1952 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE Form Short Title: Int. Cl: Application Number: Lodged: tt Complete Specification-Lodged: Accepted: Lapsed: Published: Priority: Related Art: 0 4 TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: TACHI-S CO., LTD.

2-12, MATSUBARACHO 3-CHOME

AKISHIMA-SHI

TOKYO

JAPAN

CLEMENT HACK CO., 601 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.

Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Complete Specification for the invention entitled: AUTOMOTIVE SEAT WITH SEAT BELT The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:- 1A AUTOMOTIVE SEAT WITH SEAT BELT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automotive seat with a seat belt provided thereon, and in particular relates, though not exclusively, to a three-occupant capacity automotive seat having a seat belt storage holder for storing seat belts therein.

2. Description of the Prior Art °0 ther In a conventional three-occupant automotive seat, there has been provided four seat belts in order for three occupants on the seat to restrain their respective bodies 0 safely to the seat by the corresponding seat belts. Each of the seat belts extend from the lower part of a seat back upwardly above a seat cushion. The problem in this respect S is that the four seat belts are left in a jumble or in an entangled state, leading to confusion of the part of the occupants because they can not easily recognize their own a0 seat belts.

o o i i I L 2 In terms of keeping seat belt neatly, there has been suggested in the U.S. Patent No. 3,287,061 a storage means in which two seat belts are kept in order, the storage means being provided centrally of the forward wall portion of a seat cushion and adapted to receive the buckles respectively of the two seat belts.

0 However, this prior art is solely for use with a seat of two-occupant seating capacity, and consequently is not applicable at all to a seat of 0o three-occupant seating capacity, by reason of the fact that the storage means does not accommodate more o o0 oo than two buckles of the seat belts and the exposure o a0 of the storage means provided centrally of the forward 0 D 0 oo 15 part of the seat is much undesirable in that it contacts or interferes with the legs of a middle o a occupant sitting on the central portion of the seat, and further impairs the aesthetic appearance of the seat.

r- -r -3- SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided an automotive seat with seat belts which includes a seat cushion and a seat back, said automotive seat comprising: four seat belts arranged substantially centrally of said seat, extending from between said seat cushion and seat back, said seat belts comprising a first seat belt, a second seat belt, a third seat belt, and a fourth seat belt, said seat belts being disposed in a row in-a spaced-apart relationship with one another, said second and third seat belts being interposed between said first and oo fourth seat belts, wherein said four seat belts are fixed to a floor of an automobile at respective first ends 0 thereof and second ends thereof extend through between said 0.Q 0 So seat cushion and seat back, and are situated at a seating Vsurface of said seat for use; a storage holder provided between said seat cushion and said seat back disposed at a position substantially corresponding to that of said four seat belts, said storage holder having at its upper portion a pair of storage upper shelf members which are each opened in their forward

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p ortions and having at its lower portion a lower shelf 00 member which is opened in its forward portion and both 0 Ci lateral sides; said pair of storage upper shelf members of said storage holder being for accommodation of said second and o 0, third seat belt therein; and said lower shelf member of said storage holder being for accommodation of said first and fourth seat belts therein.

Said seat back may be formed as to have a three-occupant seating capacity.

ki .r 4 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention might be more fully described, embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an automotive seat provided with seat belts in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, showing the state where the seat belts are removed from a seat belt storage holder; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same automotive seat as in the Fig. 1, which shows the state where the seat belts are stored in the seat belt storage holder; 4,0 6 0 Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the automotive seat a0 as in the Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a partially broken, exploded perspective 0 0o S view of a principal portion of an embodiment of the present invention, in which the seat belt storage holder is shown S itself; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V in the Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a partially enlarged front view of the oo, seat belt storage holder, showing the state where the seat belts are stored in the holder; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment 1 of seat belt storage holder and seat belts; 4 Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along VIII-VIII in the Fig. 7; and 4 Fig. 9 is a partially enlarged front view of another embodiment as in Fig. 7, showing the state where the seat belts are stored in the holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION p: An embodiment of the present invention comprises a i torage holder for storing plural seat belts therein, which ~C ktti~Z'r is embedded in a seat back with only the opened portion of the holder being exposed out of the seat. Accordingly, all the portions of the storage holder but such opened portion thereof are concealed from view, and the seat belts, which extends from between the seat back and a seat cushion, are stored in the storage holder, without being left loosely on the seat cushion. In order to permit accommodating a plurality of seat belts in a well-ordered and neat fashion, to thereby enable a plurality of occupants on the seat to clearly recognize their own seat belts, with much ease, the seat belt storage holder of the embodiment is formed with plural compartment walls in its interior, providing a plurality of storage rooms, each of which accommodates a Ol t Ocorresponding one of the seat belts. Hence, each seat belt 0 0 0 Q a is neatly kept in each storage room, which makes it easy o 0 for the occupants to select and take out their own seat So° belts therefrom for use. In order to allow the occupants to sit thereon without interference of the seat belt a S storage holder, the seat belt storage holder is embedded in the lower end portion of the seat back adjacent to the rear end portion of the seat cushion, and there is formed a forwardly projected portion in the frontal surface of the seat back such that the forwardly projected portion is disposed above the seat belt storage holder. With this S° structure, the storage holder is kept from contact with the o C buttocks of an occupant sitting on the seat, whereby the seating comfort of the seat is not deteriorated by the storage holder provided therein, thus avoiding unpleasing touch in the seat.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown an automotive seat (30) provided with four seat belts of a three-occupant seating capacity, comprising couch-type seat cushion (31) and seat back (32).

The frontal surface of the seat back (32) is formed in a forwardly projected manner as best shown in Fig. 3, for a reason to be explained later.

The seat back (32) is formed with an upwardly 4<{

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6 cut-away portion (33) substantially centrally of its lower end portion. In that cut-away portion a seat belt storage holder (34) is prDvided in an embedded manner such that its opened portion is exposed at the frontal surface of the seat back (34).

Numerals (19)(20) designate right and left shoulder seat belts, respectively. The right shoulder seat belt (19) is at its upper end fixed to a retractor (21) and at its lower fixed to an automobile floor (10) (See Fig. 3).

Likewise, the left shoulder seat (20) is at its upper end fixed to a retractor (22) 4 4 4 7C o DO 04 S .0 r 7 os c 9 o 9

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9 0 9 9 o 00 29 9 9 9 99, 9e 9 09 9 99 94 9 9 9 9 9099 and at its lower end fixed to the floor Although now shown, the retractors (21)(22) are fixed at a suitable portion of an automobile, such at a rear pillar or an inner panel provided on the inner walls of the automobile.

The right and left shoulder seat belts (19)(20) are respectively equipped with tongues (23)(24).

The foregoing seat belts (38)(39) are respectively provided with buckles (40)(41).

When in use, the tongue (23) of the right shoulder seat belt is detachably fitted to the buckle (40) of the seat belt (38) while the tongue (24) of 'the left shoulder seat belt (20) is detachably fitted to the buckle (41) of the seat belt (39).

15 Also, the tongue (50) of the seat belt (48) is detachably fitted to the buckle (51) of the seat belt In this way, a left-side occupant is restrained by the left shoulder seat belt a middle occupant is by the two seat belts (48)(49), and a right-side occupant is by the right shoulder seat belt As shown in Fig. 3, the rear ends respectively of the seat belts (38)(39)(48)(49) extend though the boundary between the rear end portion of the seat cushion (31) and the lower end portion of the seat 8 back (32) in a direction rearwardly of the seat and are fixed to the floor (10) by means of fixing screws (54).

As stated above, the frontal surface of the seat back (32) is projected forwardly above the cutaway portion and due to such structure, the oOo, buttocks of an occupant on the seat is positioned B. a little far from the exposed opened portion of the o 0a storage holder as in Fig. 3, whereupon the o 1~0 exposed opened portion of the storage holder (34) is kept from contact with the buttocks of occupan't, and there is no unpleasing touch in the seat.

Numeral (52) denotes an arm rest provided in

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the frontal surface of the seat back (32) such that .15 it is disposed above the cut-way portion (33) and rotatably supported on a bracket (61) welded to a .9go frame (60) in such a manner that when in use, the arm rest (52) is rotated forwardly from the seat back (32) and retained substantially horizontally relative to the seat cushion whereas when not in use, it is rotated backwardly from such use position to rest on a support plate (62) and kept within the seat back In this regard, Fig. 2 and 3 show the arm rest (52) as being in non-use state and kept within the seat back (32) with its bottom portion serving k i

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-r 9 as an intergal portion of the frontal surface of the seat back The bottom portion of the arm rest (52) .is therefore formed in a forwardly projected manner in conformity with the likewise projected frontal surface of the seat back (32) mentioned above.

Designations (63)(64) denote a foam cushion member and a covering member, respectively.

.o .o Referring now to Fig. 4, at the cut-away portion (33) of the seat back the seat belt storage o. 10 holder (34) is fixed by means of two screws (37) to o a a frame (60a) which is a part of the frame (60) and embedded within the seat back with the screws eo' (37) being respectively inserted through the holes "a O (36) perforated in each of lateral flanges (35) formed laterally of the storage holder (34).

As to the storage holder there are two 0'o or sherw eM bes upper storage rooms (42)(43) formed at its upper or oee-f- rem&-rs portion and two lower storage roomsL( 4 5a)( 4 5 b) formed at its lower portion, such that both upper and lower rooms (42)(43)(45a)(45b) are integrally formed together, and that the upper storage rooms (42)(43) are opened only at their respective forward portions while on the other hand, the lower storage rooms are opened at their respective forward and lateral side portions. Numeral (44) represents an ~lrr_- 11LI erxu;i- l--il-cl-- LI-l i- i -CT~- 10 upper compartment wall, by which the two upper storage rooms (42)(43) are defined in a symmetrically right and left manner in relation thereto. Numeral (46) stands for a lower compartment wall, by which the two lower storage rooms (45a)(45b) are defined in a symmetrically right and left manner in relation o o thereto.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the buckles Sa of the seat belt (38) and the buckles (41) of the o 10 seat belt (39) are, respectively, stored in the right upper storage room (42) and left upper storage room and further, the tongue (50) of the seat belt and the buckle (51) of the seat belt (49) are, respectively, stored in the right lower storage room °a 15 (45b) and left lower storage room The seat belts as best shown in Fig. 4, are at their respective rear ends provided with fixing bolts which are fixed to the floor 20 Referring to Figs. 7 through 9, there is shown another embodiment of the present invention, in which a seat belt storage holder is formed in the same manner as described above, except that its lower storage room is not provided with any compartment wall. As best shown in Fig. 7, the lower storage L i..ri.__i I I r r c' i; III~ slrr~llll $l~lll*ll*rr~Y~ 11 room (47) of the holder is formed by a L shaped portion (45) which is integrally connected with two upper storage rooms (42)(43).

In the present embodiment, the tongue (50) of a seat belt (48) is firstly fitted to the buckle (51) of a seat belt (49) and stored in the lower storage room after which, the the buckle (40) of a seat belt (38) and buckle (41) of a seat belt (39) a are respectively stored in the left upper storage room (42) and right upper storage room For that purpose, it is important that the seat belts (48)(49) be formed greater in length than those of the above-described first embodiment so that they are easily connected with each other.

o 15 With the above-discussed construction, it is to be appreciated that, when two occupants are Sseated in the seat, the seat belts (48)(49) are stored in the lower storage rooms (45a)(45b) or room allowing the other seat belts (38)(39) to be connected respectively with the shoulder seat belts (19)(20) for use, and then the arm rest (52) is rotated forwardly from the seat back (32) to a substantially horizontal use position relative to the seat cushion whereupon the storage holder (34) or is completely concealed from view, helping to maintain L -1 shelf members which are each opened in their forward portions and having at its lower portion a lower shelf I I I ~I i li~lllllli~ lllllll_^ii~_~ 12 the aesthetic appearance of the seat, (ii) when three occupants are seated in the seat, the arm rest (52) is kept within the seat back (32) as in Fig. 1, and all the seat belts (38)(39)(48)(49) are removed from the respective storage rooms (42)(43) (45a)(45b) of the holder (34) or those (42)(43)(47) of the holder for use of each occupant, whereupon prior to such use, those seat belts are neatly stored in their respective storage rooms, the three occupants S 10 can easily recognize their own seat belts and take Sr out them for use, and (iii) when no occupant is seated in the seat, all those seat belts are stored in the o a 0 storage holder (34) or presenting a good on appearance of the seat, as described above.

yo 15 Accordingly, 4-m--el--o-r-dn -e-:wi-th pen r nt inuvntion- the seat belt .storage holder is almost completely concealed from view, a plurality of seat belts are neatly stored in the storage holder so that each of plural occupants can easily recognize their own seat belts and take out them, and the storage holder per se is free of contact with the buttocks of occupant on the seat, thus avoiding unpleasing seating touch.

The description above has just been given of .preferred embodiments of the present invention, but

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1- 13 it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments illustrated but other replacements, modifications and additions may structurally be possible without departing from the spirit of the appended claims for the invention.

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Claims

2. The automotive seat according to claim 1, wherein said seat back is so formed as to have a three-occupant seating capacity. S3. The automotive seat according to either claim 1 or r il- c i ,Ii 2, wherein a frontal surface of said seat back is formed in a forwardly projected manner so that said storage holder embedded at said lower end portion of said seat back is kept from contact with an occupant sitting on said seat.
4. The automotive seat according to any one of the preceeding claims wherein said storage holder is adapted to accommodate a tongue and buckle of said four seat belts so that they may be removed from and stored in said storage holder.
5. The automotive seat according to any one of the *0 *0 preceeding claims wherein said storage holder has in an oo interior of the upper portion a compartment wall to thereby define the pair of storage upper shelf members and said o lower shelf member is so formed that two seat belts with Stheir tongue and buckles connected with each other are 0 0000*0 o stored therein.
6. The automotive seat according to any one of the preceeding claims wherein an arm rest is provided in said 0*0000 Q 0 seat back such that it is rotatable from within said seat 00.0* 0, back to a use position or from the use position back to a home position within said seat back, and wherein said 00 00 o a o o storage holder is disposed below said arm rest. 00 7. The automotive seat according to any one of the .o 0 Q* preceeding claims wherein said seat comprises a rear seat having a three-occupant seating capacity.
8. The automotive seat according to any one of the preceeding claims wherein said lower shelf member comprises a compartment wall at a substantially central position therein for dividing said lower shelf member into two compartments for storing one each of said first and fourth seat belts. V 41 7'r i P 1" "r I r--i c~ L .0 B 4 16
9. The automotive seat according to any one of the preceeding claims wherein said lower shelf member has an L-shaped cross-section having one leg of the L integrally connected to said pair of upper shelf members. An automotive seat with seat belts substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS 7TH DAY OF MARCH, 1991. TACHI-S CO. LTD. By Its Patent Attorneys: GRIFFITH HACK CO. Fellows Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia. o o o o o o 0 0000o 0 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 U 0 0 0 o o o, a4I Do 4 0 o4 a -C