CN212654311U

CN212654311U - Transmission case assembly and seat belt apparatus for vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN212654311U
Application number: CN202021400380.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王飞; 孙昭兵; 徐熠洲; 黄永亮
Original assignee: Yanfeng Automotive Safety Systems Co Ltd
Current assignee: Yanfeng Automotive Safety Systems Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-16
Filing date: 2020-07-16
Publication date: 2021-03-05
Anticipated expiration: 2030-07-16

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a transmission assembly for a recliner retractor of a vehicle seat belt apparatus, a seat of the vehicle including a seat portion and a backrest capable of adjusting an inclination angle about a rotation axis with respect to the seat portion, the recliner retractor being mounted on the backrest of the seat and including a vehicle sensing device, the transmission assembly including: an upper housing that is sheet-like and includes a base plate and a feel frame fixed to the base plate, the feel frame configured to pivotably support a feel device; a lower housing which is in an open box shape and is assembled with the upper housing, and the upper housing is sandwiched between the lower housing and the angle-by-wire retractor; and a transmission pulley accommodated in the upper and lower housings and capable of rotating independently of the upper and lower housings, the transmission pulley being connected to the recliner pulley at the rotational shaft of the seat through a core wire. The gearbox assembly of the present disclosure reduces the steps and cost of installation and optimizes the production line layout.

Description

Transmission case assembly and seat belt apparatus for vehicle

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to a seatbelt apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a transmission case assembly and a seatbelt apparatus for a vehicle.

Background

A seatbelt device is a device that protects an occupant from being injured by inertia at the time of emergency braking and collision of a vehicle. The safety belt device binds passengers through a ribbon-shaped braid, and the braid is stored and furled through a retractor and fixed on a vehicle body through a lock tongue. A seat belt device is one of the most important components in a passive safety system for a vehicle.

With the increasing amount of vehicles kept, the demands of passengers on vehicle comfort, in particular on seat comfort, are increasing. Seat backs have evolved from being fixed to being adjustable and increasingly adjustable in inclination, such as commercial vehicles have achieved adjustable inclination approaching lay flat. For optimum safety and comfort, retractors are usually mounted in the seat back and also protect the occupant from time to time during rearward adjustment of the seat back. The vehicle sensing device is a mechanical sensor in the retractor, and is used for sensing the acceleration and the inclination angle of the vehicle and starting the locking of the mesh belt when the vehicle is in an emergency state.

The traditional vehicle sensing device is designed along with the installation position of a vehicle body and has a fixed inclination angle, and the technical requirement of the adjustable inclination angle of a seat backrest cannot be met. Therefore, an adaptive retractor in which the inclination angle of the vehicle sensing device is adjusted in synchronization with the seat back by its own weight is developed. However, the adaptive retractor has a small adjustable range and low vehicle sensitivity, and cannot meet the requirement of adjusting the inclination angle of the backrest which is higher and higher.

The seat integrated wire control safety belt device provides a better solution for solving the problem of large inclination angle adjustment of the seat back. A line control angle modulation retractor of the safety belt device is arranged on a seat back, an angle modulation disc component is arranged between the seat back and the seat part and is linked with a seat angle modulation device, and the retractor and the angle modulation disc component are connected through a core wire component. When the seat angle adjuster is adjusted, the angle adjusting disc assembly and the seat backrest rotate synchronously, the core wire is pulled out or recovered, and the vehicle sensing device in the retractor is driven to rotate synchronously, so that the synchronous inclination angle adjustment of the vehicle sensing device and the seat backrest is realized. The drive-by-wire angle modulation retractor has obvious improvement than the self-adaptation retractor in sensitivity and angle modulation scope.

The transmission box assembly is an important component of the seat integrated wire control safety belt device and synchronously transmits the seat backrest adjusting inclination angle detected by the angle adjusting disc assembly to the vehicle sensing device. The transmission case assembly has more parts and integrates the functions of transmission and torque output, so the part layout of the transmission case assembly is particularly important.

The transmission case assembly of the existing line control angle modulation retractor adopts the structure of an upper shell and a lower shell, and the upper shell is clamped between the lower shell and the retractor. The lower shell is of a sheet design and the upper shell is of an open box design. The transmission pulley is assembled between the upper and lower housings, and the spring is installed between the lower housing and the transmission pulley. The lower housing is rotated relative to the upper housing during assembly to achieve pre-wind of the torsion spring. The pre-wound spring imparts a back-twisting force to the lower housing, thus requiring the use of bolts to fasten the upper and lower housings together, which adds steps and cost to the installation.

The known gearbox assembly has, in addition to the transmission pulley, a pinion to modify the transmission ratio between the angle pulley and the transmission pulley. The extra pinion not only increases the part quantity and improves the requirement on the part precision, but also increases the transmission path and reduces the transmission precision.

In addition, the mounting bracket and the transmission case component of the vehicle sensing device are of a split type design, and the mounting bracket and the transmission case component are separately mounted to the retractor frame. After the transmission case assembly is assembled, that is, after the pinion is matched and positioned with the upper housing, the mounting bracket on which the vehicle sensing device is mounted needs to be fixed on the retractor frame by using bolts immediately. Therefore, it is necessary to assemble and test the line controlled corner-split assembly on the retractor mounting main line, which not only increases the difficulty of assembly but also increases the complexity of the production line layout.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a drive housing assembly for a by-wire recliner retractor that overcomes at least one of the deficiencies of the prior art.

A first aspect of the present disclosure relates to a transmission case assembly of a recliner-by-wire retractor for a vehicle seat belt device, wherein a seat of the vehicle includes a seat portion and a backrest capable of adjusting an inclination angle about a rotational axis with respect to the seat portion, the recliner-by-wire retractor being mounted on the backrest of the seat and including a vehicle feel device, the transmission case assembly comprising:

an upper housing having a sheet shape and including a base plate and a feel frame fixed to the base plate, the feel frame configured to pivotably support a feel device;

a lower housing which is in an open box shape and is assembled with the upper housing, and the upper housing is sandwiched between the lower housing and the angle-by-wire retractor; and

and a transmission pulley accommodated in the upper and lower cases and rotatable independently of the upper and lower cases, the transmission pulley being connected to the angle adjusting pulley at the rotational axis of the seat through a core wire.

In some embodiments, the bed frame is integrally formed with the base plate of the upper shell.

In some embodiments, the bed is formed separately from the base plate of the upper shell and connected together by a connector.

In some embodiments, a vehicle sensing device includes a sensitive seat having an inertial body support surface, and a sensitive ball supported on the inertial body support surface.

In some embodiments, the truck bed includes a support bar extending parallel to the base plate of the upper housing, and support legs supporting both ends of the support bar at a distance from the base plate of the upper housing.

In some embodiments, the susceptor is provided with an outwardly projecting pivot shaft that is pivotally received in pivot holes of the support bar and the opposing base plate.

In some embodiments, the drive pulley is provided with an outwardly extending push rod configured to push the vehicle sensing device to rotate in the fore-aft direction of the vehicle.

In some embodiments, the base plate of the upper housing is provided with an opening for the push rod of the transmission pulley to protrude.

In some embodiments, the drive case assembly further comprises a drive pulley spring configured to provide a return torque force to the drive pulley and mounted between the upper housing and the drive pulley.

In some embodiments, the drive pulley includes an annular base plate, and a hollow protrusion extending outward from a central aperture of the annular base plate, the hollow protrusion configured to receive the drive pulley spring.

In some embodiments, the drive pulley spring comprises a coil spring and has a leg at one end secured to the hollow boss of the drive pulley and a leg at the other end secured to the upper housing.

In some embodiments, the lower housing includes a receiving portion configured to receive the transmission pulley, and a cord passing-in and-out portion tangentially protruding from an edge of the receiving portion.

In some embodiments, the base plate of the upper housing covers the accommodating section and the core wire entry-and-exit section, so that the upper housing and the lower housing enclose the transmission pulley and the transmission pulley spring therein.

In some embodiments, the receptacle is generally cylindrical and includes an annular base plate, a hollow boss projecting from a central aperture of the annular base plate.

In some embodiments, the shape of the hollow protrusion of the receptacle is slightly larger than the shape of the hollow protrusion of the drive pulley to accommodate the hollow protrusion of the drive pulley.

In some embodiments, one of the hollow convex portion of the accommodating portion and the hollow convex portion of the driving pulley has a center post on a bottom plate thereof, and the other of the hollow convex portion of the accommodating portion and the hollow convex portion of the driving pulley has a center hole through which the center post passes on the bottom plate thereof, so that the driving pulley can rotate about the center post relative to the lower housing.

In some embodiments, the outer contour shape of the base plate of the upper housing substantially corresponds to a combined outer contour shape of the accommodating portion and the core wire entry-and-exit portion.

In some embodiments, the upper and lower housings are configured to fit together by a snap fit.

In some embodiments, one of the upper and lower cases is provided with one or more snaps on a circumference thereof, and the other of the upper and lower cases is provided with one or more pawl members on a circumference thereof, the pawl members and the snaps being engaged with each other in a snap-fit manner.

In some embodiments, the latch is in the form of a hollow frame, and the pawl is cantilevered and has a hook at its top end, the hook of the pawl being capable of hooking onto the hollow frame of the latch to prevent relative rotation between the upper and lower housings.

A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to a seatbelt apparatus for a vehicle, wherein the seatbelt apparatus includes a retractor and the above-mentioned gear box assembly for the retractor, which is mounted to the retractor.

Additional features and advantages of the disclosed subject technology will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosed subject technology. The advantages of the subject technology of the present disclosure will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the subject technology of the present disclosure as claimed.

Drawings

Various aspects of the disclosure will be better understood upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings in which:

fig. 1 shows a side view of a vehicle seat with a seat belt arrangement;

figures 2 and 3 show assembled side and exploded perspective views of the retractor and drive mechanism;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a gearbox assembly according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an assembled perspective view of a gear box assembly according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates an assembled cross-sectional view of a transmission case assembly according to the present disclosure; and

fig. 7A-7D illustrate an installation schematic of a gearbox assembly according to the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several embodiments of the disclosure. It should be understood, however, that the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, the embodiments described below are intended to provide a more complete disclosure of the present disclosure, and to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. It is also to be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide further additional embodiments.

It should be understood that like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views. In the drawings, the size of some of the features may be varied for clarity.

It is to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the specification have the meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art unless otherwise defined. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

As used in this specification, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The terms "comprising," "including," and "containing" when used in this specification specify the presence of stated features, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features. The term "and/or" as used in this specification includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The terms "between X and Y" and "between about X and Y" as used in the specification should be construed to include X and Y. The term "between about X and Y" as used herein means "between about X and about Y" and the term "from about X to Y" as used herein means "from about X to about Y".

In the description, when an element is referred to as being "on," "attached" to, "connected" to, "coupled" to, or "contacting" another element, etc., another element may be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled to, or contacting the other element, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly attached to," directly connected to, "directly coupled to," or "directly contacting" another element, there are no intervening elements present. In the description, one feature is disposed "adjacent" another feature, and may mean that one feature has a portion overlapping with or above or below an adjacent feature.

In the specification, spatial relations such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "rear", "high", "low", and the like may explain the relation of one feature to another feature in the drawings. It will be understood that the spatial relationship terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, features originally described as "below" other features may be described as "above" other features when the device in the figures is inverted. The device may also be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the relative spatial relationships may be interpreted accordingly.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a side view of a vehicle seat with a seat belt device. The vehicle may be a passenger or truck, in particular a motor vehicle which is driven partly or completely autonomously. The vehicle seat has a seat portion 5 and a backrest 4. The backrest 4 is tiltable forwards and backwards about its axis of rotation relative to the seat 5 from a substantially upright predetermined initial position (depicted in solid lines in fig. 1). The predetermined initial position is optimized for seating of the occupant. The backrest 4 can be laid down forwards on the seat 5 in order to make room. The backrest 4 can be adjusted backwards to a maximum inclination close to horizontal, at which the occupant can rest. The maximum inclination position may correspond to an inclination close to 180 °, for example an inclination of about 170 °, with reference to the direction of advance of the vehicle. The backrest 4 can be adjusted to any intermediate position between the initial position and the maximum inclination position, for example to an inclination of about 120 ° or 135 °, depending on the needs of the occupant. The two end positions of the backrest 5 are depicted in fig. 1 with dashed lines.

A vehicle seat is provided with a seat belt device for protecting an occupant from being injured by inertia in an emergency of the vehicle. The seatbelt apparatus includes a retractor 1. The retractor 1 is provided on the backrest 4, and is used to wind and store webbing. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the retractor 1 includes a retractor frame 17 and a spool 34. The retractor frame 17 is U-shaped and includes a bottom wall and two side walls. The retractor frame 17 is fixed to the backrest 4 by a bottom wall and rotatably supports the spool 34 by cooperation of the two side walls and the two spool covers 18, 22. The spool 34 is cylindrical in shape and is used to wind webbing. A retractor spring is provided between one end of the spool 34 and the spool cover 22. The retractor spring pretensions the spool 34 in the retraction direction to apply a return torsion force to the spool 34 returning to its initial position. The other end of the spool 34 is fixed to the ratchet 21 so that the spool 34 and the ratchet 21 can rotate together in synchronization. In an emergency situation of the vehicle, the vehicle sensing device 10 stops the ratchet 21 and thus the spool 34, so that the spool 34 stops winding the webbing and restrains the occupant. The ratchet 21 may be housed in the spool cover 18, and the spool cover 18 is in turn housed in the retractor outer cover 23. The spool covers 18, 22 and the retractor outer cover 23 may be commonly fixed to the retractor frame 17.

The vehicle sensing device 10 is used to detect acceleration generated by the vehicle in an emergency. The vehicle sensing device 10 comprises a sensing seat 14, a sensing ball 25, a sensing claw 15 and a locking claw 8. The susceptor 14 is generally bowl-shaped. The susceptor 14 is provided with two pivot shafts extending outwardly in opposite directions on the outer surface of the bowl body, so that the susceptor 14 is pivotally mounted on the gearbox assembly 9 (described in more detail below). The bottom of the sensitive seat 14 in the bowl comprises an inertial body support surface. The inertial body support surface needs to be always kept in a substantially horizontal position as a reference surface of the vehicle sensing device 10. The sensing ball 25 is seated in the bowl of the sensing socket 14 and is supported on the inertial body support surface in its initial position. The sensing claw 15 is pivotally mounted on the sensing seat 14 and covers over the sensing ball 25. The locking pawl 8 is mounted on the retractor frame 17 of the retractor 1 (e.g. on a side wall) and is located between the sensitive pawl 15 and the ratchet 21 of the retractor 1. When the vehicle has an emergency and an acceleration exceeding a predetermined value occurs, the sensing ball 25 is separated from the inertial body supporting surface due to inertia and is displaced upwards along the inner surface of the bowl body of the sensing seat 14, so that the sensing claw 15 is driven to pivot upwards. The upward pivoting of the sensitive pawl 15 ejects the locking pawl 8 upward and against the ratchet 21 of the retractor 1. The ratchet 21 and the spool 34 stop rotating, so that the retractor 1 stops winding the webbing and restrains the occupant.

The retractor 1 with the vehicle sensing device 10 is mounted in the backrest 4. In the initial position of the backrest 4, the vehicle sensing device 10 is in a substantially vertical orientation and the inertial body support surface is in a substantially horizontal position. When the backrest 4 is rotated in the front-rear direction of the vehicle from the initial position, the vehicle sensation device 10 is no longer in a substantially vertical orientation, thereby affecting the lock function. In order to maintain the vehicle sensing device 10 in normal operation throughout the adjustment of the inclination of the backrest 4, the retractor drive mechanism is configured to automatically adjust the positional inclination of the vehicle sensing device 10, ideally such that the vehicle sensing device 10 remains substantially in a vertical orientation.

The retractor drive mechanism comprises a drive housing assembly 9 and an angle adjuster assembly 3 connected by a core wire assembly 2. The recliner plate assembly 3 is arranged coaxially with the rotational axis of the backrest 4 and rotates with the rotation of the backrest 4. The core wire assembly 2 connects the recliner assembly 3 and the gear box assembly 9 to transmit the angle of rotation of the recliner assembly 3 to the gear box assembly 9. The transmission case assembly 9 is located between the core wire assembly 2 and the car feel device 10, and transmits the rotation angle of the recliner assembly 3 to the car feel device 10 to adjust the positioning inclination of the car feel device 10.

The core wire assembly 2 includes an elongated hollow sheath 27 and a core wire 28 passing through the interior of the sheath 27. The jacket 27 surrounds the core-wire 28 and defines a path of movement of the core-wire 28. The first end 26b and the opposite second end 26a of the sleeve 27 are fixed to the housing of the recliner assembly 3 and the housing of the gear box assembly 9, respectively. The core wire 28 is freely movable within the sleeve 27 independently of the sleeve 27 and the first end 29 and the opposite second end 30 are fixed to a recliner pulley 31 within the housing of the recliner assembly 3 and a drive pulley 19 within the housing of the drive housing assembly 9, respectively, to convert rotation of the recliner assembly 3 into rotation of the drive housing assembly 9. In other embodiments, the core assembly 2 may include only the core 28, and not the hollow sleeve 27.

The recliner assembly 3 is used to transmit the angle of rotation of the backrest 4 to the core assembly 2. The recliner assembly 3 includes a recliner pulley 31, a recliner wrench 12 and associated wrench slide 7, and a housing. The housing accommodates therein the recliner pulley 31 and the recliner wrench 12 and the like as internal components, and the recliner pulley 31 and the recliner wrench 12 can rotate independently of the housing.

The housing of the recliner assembly 3 is assembled from two

housing halves

13, 11. The housing is configured to be drivingly connected to the rotational axis of the backrest 4, so that the housing rotates synchronously with the backrest 4 when the backrest 4 rotates about its rotational axis to adjust the inclination angle. The housing includes a long diameter portion with a large radius and a short diameter portion with a small radius in an inner cavity thereof; accordingly, the recliner pulley 31 includes a long diameter portion having a large radius and a short diameter portion having a small radius. When the short diameter portion of the housing abuts against the long diameter portion of the angle adjusting pulley, the rotation of the housing can drive the angle adjusting pulley 31 to rotate. The long diameter portion of the recliner pulley 31 is provided with a core wire fixing portion for fixing the first end portion 29 of the core wire 28 of the core wire assembly 2, while the second end portion 30 of the core wire 28 is fixed to the transmission pulley 19 of the transmission case assembly 9. The short diameter portion of the angle pulley 31 is provided with a winding groove for winding the core wire 28. The winding groove is drawn from the core fixing portion and extends circumferentially along the periphery of the short diameter portion to receive the core wire 28 from the core fixing portion and define a movement path of the core wire 28. The recliner wrench 12 and the wrench slider 7 are mounted to the seat portion 5 of the vehicle seat and provided with a stopper projecting outwardly from the surface thereof. The long diameter portion of the recliner pulley 31 is provided with an arc-shaped opening, and a stopper is received in the arc-shaped opening of the recliner pulley 31 to limit or allow the rotation of the recliner pulley 31 during the adjustment of the inclination angle of the backrest 4.

The gear box assembly 9 is used for converting the linear motion imparted to the core wire 28 by the recliner assembly 3 into a rotational angle and transmitting the rotational angle to the vehicle sensing device 10. Referring to fig. 4-6, the drive housing assembly 9 includes a drive pulley 19 and upper and

lower housings

16, 20. The upper and

lower cases

16, 20 accommodate therein internal components such as a transmission pulley 19, and the transmission pulley 19 is capable of rotating independently of the upper and

lower cases

16, 20.

The driving pulley 19 is substantially hat-shaped and includes an annular base plate 19-3, and a hollow protrusion 19-1 protruding outward from a center hole of the annular base plate 19-3, and the hollow protrusion 19-1 is a cylindrical body having a bottom plate. The annular base plate 19-3 is provided with a core wire fixing portion 19-4 for fixing the second end portion 30 of the core wire 28 of the core wire assembly 2. The core wire fixing portion 19-4 may be provided at a radially intermediate or outer portion of the annular base plate 19-3. The annular base plate 19-3 is provided with a winding groove 19-5 for winding the core wire 28 on a part or all of the periphery thereof. The winding groove 19-5 is substantially circular arc-shaped and may be concentric with the transmission pulley 19. The winding groove 19-5 is led out from the core wire fixing portion 19-4 and extends circumferentially along the peripheral edge of the ring-shaped base plate 19-3 to receive the core wire 28 from the core wire fixing portion 19-4 and define the moving path of the core wire 28. The depth and width of the winding groove 19-5 are preferably not less than the diameter of the core wire 28. The winding grooves 19-5 of the driving pulley 19 and the winding grooves of the recliner pulley 31 may have substantially the same radius, so that no additional pinion needs to be added during the transmission to correct the transmission ratio between the recliner pulley 31 and the driving pulley 19.

The annular base plate 19-3 of the transmission pulley 19 is also provided with a push rod 19-6 extending perpendicularly to the outer surface thereof, and the sensitive seat 14 is provided with two parallel extending arms 14-1 extending downwards at the bottom of the bowl body. A push rod 19-6 is inserted between the two projecting arms 14-1 and can rotate the sensitive seat 14 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle to ensure that the inertial body support surface in the sensitive seat 14 is always kept in a substantially horizontal position. In some embodiments, the push rod 19-6 has a spherical or elliptical head and the head is inserted between the two projecting arms 14-1 to rotate the sensitive seat 14.

The hollow protrusion 19-1 of the drive pulley 19 is adapted to receive the drive pulley spring 24. The drive pulley spring 24 provides a back torque force to the drive pulley 19 to circumferentially bias the drive pulley 19 to its initial rotational position.

The housing includes an upper housing 16 and a lower housing 20. The upper and

lower housings

16 and 20 are fitted together by snap-fitting, and the upper housing 16 is fixed to the retractor 1 (for example, on the retractor outer cover 23) by a fastener (for example, a screw or the like), whereby the upper housing 16 is sandwiched between the lower housing 20 and the retractor 1. The lower case 20 has a generally open box shape and includes a housing portion 20-3, and a cord passing-in and-out portion 20-4 tangentially protruding from an edge of the housing portion 20-3. The core access portion 20-4 is generally elongated and includes two through slots therein. The two through slots are continuous with each other and open at the top. The through groove having a larger diameter is located radially outward, and is used to fix the second end portion 26a of the jacket 27 of the core assembly 2. The through slots of smaller diameter are located radially inward and are through which the cords 28 of the cord assembly 2 pass. The core wire 28 of the core wire assembly 2 passes through the through groove, is wound on the wire winding groove 19-5 of the transmission pulley 19, and is finally fixed to the core wire fixing portion 19-4 of the transmission pulley 19.

The receiving portion 20-3 is substantially cylindrical, and includes an annular base plate 20-5, a hollow convex portion 20-6 protruding from a central hole of the annular base plate 20-5, and a flange portion 20-7 protruding from a peripheral edge of the annular base plate 20-5 in a direction opposite to the hollow convex portion 20-6. The hollow boss 20-6 of the lower case 20 is a cylindrical body having a bottom plate and is shaped to substantially match and slightly larger than the shape of the hollow boss 19-1 of the driving pulley 19 to accommodate the hollow boss 19-1 of the driving pulley 19. The hollow convex portion 20-6 of the accommodating portion 20-3 has a center post 20-2 protruded on a bottom plate thereof, and the hollow convex portion 19-1 of the driving pulley 19 has a center hole 19-2 on a bottom plate thereof through which the center post 20-2 passes, so that the driving pulley 19 can rotate about the center post 20-2 with respect to the accommodating portion 20-3 and the lower case 20.

The upper case 16 is in the form of a sheet, and includes a base plate 16-6, and a bogie 33 fixed to the base plate 16-6. The outer contour shape of the base plate 16-6 substantially corresponds to the combined outer contour shape of the accommodating portion 20-3 and the core wire access portion 20-4. After the second end portion 26a of the ferrule 27 of the cord assembly 2 is placed into the cord access portion 20-4 of the lower housing 20 and the transmission pulley 19 and the transmission pulley spring 24 are placed into the receiving portion 20-3 of the lower housing 20, the base plate 16-6 of the upper housing 16 may cover the receiving portion 20-3 and the cord access portion 20-4 such that the upper housing 16 and the lower housing 20 enclose the second end portion 26a of the ferrule 27 of the cord assembly 2, the transmission pulley 19, and the transmission pulley spring 24 therein. The base plate 16-6 is provided with an opening 16-5 for the push rod 19-6 of the driving pulley 19 to extend and rotate back and forth. The upper case 16 is provided with a spring fixing portion 16-2 on the inner surface thereof, and the bottom plate of the hollow convex portion 19-1 of the transmission pulley 19 is also provided with a spring fixing portion. The driving pulley spring 24 may be a coil spring, and a leg at one end thereof is fixed to the spring fixing portion of the driving pulley 19, and a leg at the other end thereof is fixed to the spring fixing portion 16-2 of the upper case 16.

The lower housing 20 is provided with one or more catches 20-1a, 20-1b (two shown, e.g., at the receptacle 20-3 and the cord access 20-4, respectively) extending radially outward from its periphery. Accordingly, the upper housing 16 is provided with an equal number of outwardly projecting jaw members 16-1a, 16-1b on its periphery. The pawl members 16-1a, 16-1b and the catch members 20-1a, 20-1b engage each other in a snap-fit manner to secure the upper and

lower housings

16, 20 together and prevent axial relative movement between the upper and

lower housings

16, 20. In some embodiments, the catch member 20-1a is in the form of a hollow box and the pawl member 16-1a is cantilevered and has a hook portion 16-4 at its top end. The hook 16-4 of the pawl member 16-1a hooks onto the hollow frame of the catch member 20-1a, thereby preventing relative rotation between the upper and

lower housings

16 and 20.

The feel frame 33 is used to pivotally support the sensitive seat 14 of the feel apparatus 10. The truck bed 33 includes a support bar extending parallel to the base plate 16-6, and two support legs supporting both ends of the support bar at a distance from the base plate 16-6. The support bar and the opposite base plate 16-6 are provided with corresponding pivot holes 33-1, 33-2 for receiving the pivot axis of the sensitive seat 14, so that the sensitive seat 14 can pivot relative to the upper housing 16 and the entire drive case assembly 9 under the action of the push bar 19-6 of the drive pulley 19. The bed 33 may be integrally formed with the base plate 16-6 of the upper housing 16 or may be separately formed and connected together by a connector.

The installation process of the gearbox assembly 9 will now be described. The hollow convex portion 19-1 of the driving pulley 19 is placed into the hollow convex portion 20-6 of the lower case 20, and the center hole 19-2 of the driving pulley 19 is inserted into the center post 20-2 of the lower case 20, thereby assembling the driving pulley 19 to the lower case 20. The driving pulley spring 24 is put into the hollow convex portion 19-1 of the driving pulley 19, and the leg at one end thereof is fixed to the spring fixing portion of the driving pulley 19. The upper case 16 is covered on the lower case 20, the driving pulley 19 and the spring 24, and the center hole 16-3 of the upper case 16 is inserted into the center post 20-2 of the lower case 20, and the leg of the other end of the driving pulley spring 24 is fixed to the spring fixing portion 16-2 of the upper case 16. Thereby, the spring 24 is mounted between the upper housing 16 and the recliner pulley 31. Referring to fig. 7A-7D, the upper housing 16 is rotated such that the pawl members 16-1a, 16-1b of the upper housing 16 engage the catches 20-1a, 20-1b of the lower housing 20, wherein engagement of the pawl members with the catches limits axial movement of the upper housing 16 relative to the lower housing 20 and the hook 16-4 on the pawl member 16-1a limits rotational movement of the upper housing 16 relative to the lower housing 20. Before, during, or after any of the above-described stages of the process, the feel assembly 10 may be mounted to the feel frame 33 of the upper housing 16 through the pivot holes 33-1 and 33-2. Therefore, the integral installation of the line control angle modulation sub-assembly is realized.

As described above, in the transmission case assembly of the conventional angle-by-wire retractor, the lower case is designed in a thin plate shape, and the upper case is designed in a box shape. The spring is installed between the lower shell and the transmission pulley, and the spring is pre-wound by rotating the lower shell for assembly. The upper shell and the lower shell need to be assembled on the retractor frame through bolt fastening. In addition, the conventional transmission case assembly includes a pinion gear in addition to the transmission pulley to correct the transmission ratio between the reclining pulley and the transmission pulley. The installing support and the transmission case subassembly of car sense device are split type design, and both install to the coiler frame respectively.

The transmission case assembly according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is constructed of an upper case and a lower case, and the upper case is interposed between the lower case and the retractor. The lower shell is of an open box design and the upper shell is of a sheet design. The transmission pulley is assembled between the upper and lower housings, and the spring is installed between the upper housing and the transmission pulley. The spring pre-wind is achieved by rotating the upper housing relative to the lower housing during assembly. Although the pre-wound spring imparts a back torque to the upper housing, the upper and lower housings are secured together by a snap fit without any additional bolts. The snap and pawl members limit relative axial movement between the upper and lower housings, while the hook portion limits relative rotational movement between the upper and lower housings. This layout mode relies on upper and lower casing self fastening, has restricted the rotary motion of last casing, has reduced the step and the cost of installation.

According to this transmission case subassembly of disclosing the embodiment need not the pinion to revise the drive ratio, and the part quantity is few, the part required precision reduces to the transmission is succinct, the transmission precision is high, has improved the suitability of product.

In a gearbox assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the feel frame is part of the upper housing and the feel assembly is mounted on the upper housing. From this, transmission case subassembly and coiler main part are assembled alone for drive-by-wire angle modulation subassembly can be assembled, test outside the thread, then wholly adorn on the coiler platform, has optimized and has produced the line overall arrangement.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure without substantially departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims. The disclosure is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.

Claims

1. A gear box assembly for a by-wire recliner retractor of a vehicle seat belt apparatus, the seat of the vehicle including a seat portion and a backrest adjustable in inclination about an axis of rotation relative to the seat portion, the by-wire recliner retractor being mounted on the backrest of the seat and including a vehicle feel device, the gear box assembly comprising:

2. The gearbox assembly of claim 1, wherein the truck bed is integrally formed with the base plate of the upper housing.

3. The gearbox assembly of claim 1, wherein the truck bed is formed separately from the base plate of the upper housing and is coupled together by a coupling member.

4. The gearbox assembly of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the ride-on-feel device includes a sensitive seat having an inertial body support surface, and a sensitive ball supported on the inertial body support surface.

5. The gearbox assembly of claim 4, wherein the truck bed includes a support bar extending parallel to the base plate of the upper housing, and support legs supporting both ends of the support bar at a distance from the base plate of the upper housing.

6. The gearbox assembly of claim 5, wherein the susceptor is provided with an outwardly projecting pivot shaft that is pivotally received in pivot holes of the support bar and the opposing base plate.

7. The gearbox assembly of claim 4, wherein the drive pulley is provided with an outwardly extending push rod configured to push the ride-on device to rotate in a fore-aft direction of the vehicle.

8. The drive case assembly of claim 7, wherein the base plate of the upper housing defines an opening for extending a push rod of the drive pulley.

9. The drive box assembly of any one of claims 1-3, further comprising a drive pulley spring configured to provide a return torque force to the drive pulley and mounted between the upper housing and the drive pulley.

10. The gearbox assembly of claim 9, wherein the drive pulley includes an annular base plate, and a hollow boss extending outwardly from a central aperture of the annular base plate, the hollow boss configured to receive the drive pulley spring.

11. The drive case assembly of claim 10, wherein the drive pulley spring comprises a coil spring and has a leg at one end secured to the hollow boss of the drive pulley and a leg at the other end secured to the upper housing.

12. The drive case assembly of claim 10, wherein the lower housing includes a receiving portion configured to receive the drive pulley, and a cord access portion extending tangentially from an edge of the receiving portion.

13. The drive case assembly of claim 12, wherein the base plate of the upper housing covers the receiving portion and the cord access portion such that the upper and lower housings enclose the drive pulley and the drive pulley spring therein.

14. The gearbox assembly of claim 13, wherein the receptacle portion is generally cylindrical and includes an annular base plate, a hollow boss extending from a central aperture of the annular base plate.

15. The gear box assembly of claim 14, wherein the shape of the hollow protrusion of the receptacle is slightly larger than the shape of the hollow protrusion of the drive pulley to receive the hollow protrusion of the drive pulley.

16. The gear box assembly of claim 14, wherein one of the hollow boss of the receptacle and the hollow boss of the drive pulley has a central post on a bottom plate thereof, and the other of the hollow boss of the receptacle and the hollow boss of the drive pulley has a central hole on the bottom plate thereof through which the central post passes, such that the drive pulley is rotatable about the central post relative to the lower housing.

17. The gearbox assembly of claim 13, wherein the base plate of the upper housing has an outer contoured shape that substantially corresponds to a combined outer contoured shape of the receiving portion and the core wire access portion.

18. The gearbox assembly of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the upper housing and the lower housing are configured to fit together by a snap fit.

19. The gearbox assembly of claim 18, wherein one of the upper and lower housings is provided with one or more catches on a periphery thereof, and the other of the upper and lower housings is provided with one or more pawl members on a periphery thereof, the pawl members and catches being snap-fit into one another.

20. The gear box assembly of claim 19, wherein the latch member is in the form of a hollow frame and the pawl member is cantilevered and has a hook portion at a top end thereof, the hook portion of the pawl member being capable of hooking over the hollow frame of the latch member to prevent relative rotation between the upper and lower housings.

21. A seat belt arrangement for a vehicle, the seat belt arrangement comprising a retractor and a gear box assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 20 for the retractor, the gear box assembly being mounted to the retractor.